A Tayside man has celebrated his 26th Christmas with transplanted kidneys.
David Officer, 68, had a successful operation on Burns Night 1988 after both his kidneys failed.
The farmer, who still works his family’s holdings in Logie Pert near Montrose, gets check-ups every three months at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
“It’ll be 27 years on January 25 since I had the transplant,” he said.
“In terms of years I’ll be one of the most successful transplants in Scotland and I haven’t had any hiccups whatsoever.
“I was often bothered with urine infections when I was youngster.
“They never figured out what caused my kidneys to fail but they thought that was something to do with it.
“So in 1985 my kidneys started to go downhill and I was very ill, there was going into dialysis in 1986, and then the operation.”
That week, American one-hit wonder Tiffany was celebrating her No 1 UK single with I Think We’re Alone Now, a Tommy James & The Shondells original.
Mr Officer’s new kidneys, he is pleased to say, have worn rather better.
He said: “I’m still working on the farm every day. My son runs the business now, but I keep an active hand on it.”
Mr Officer said he had “a lot of admiration” for the dialysis nurses and staff of NHS Tayside.
“I always take my pills and do what they tell me that seems to help,” he said.
“I get a three-monthly check-up in Dundee and they have always taken good care of me.
“The transplant was done in Edinburgh (Royal Infirmary) as Ninewells did not have a unit at that time.
“But once I was signed off from there I was able to go to Dundee after that.”